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Boggs eager for fresh start after rejoining Cards

4/6/13: Mitchell Boggs earns his first save of 2013 by getting Marco Scutaro to fly out to right, sealing the Cardinals' 6-3 victory

By Jenifer Langosch and Chad Thornburg
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MLB.com |

ST. LOUIS -- Mitchell Boggs is tired of talking mechanics. He won't divulge the specifics on what he accomplished or tweaked during his Triple-A stint in Memphis, but he'll be happy to show it.

With starter Jaime Garcia on the 15-day disabled list with a left shoulder strain, Boggs returned to the club Sunday after 16 days with the Memphis Redbirds eager for his fresh start.

"I can sit here and talk about [mechanics] all day long, but it's not gonna matter when I go out there and compete," Boggs said. "Whatever adjustments I've made, I feel good about them and I look forward to showing that."

Through his first five appearances in Memphis, Boggs pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking two and striking out four. But in his last outing on Thursday, he walked three and allowed two hits for three earned runs while recording just one out.

"It was just one of those days," Boggs said. "I had five really good ones before that. I know folks probably don't want to talk about those five as much as they want to talk about one bad outing, but that's fine. Folks can look at it however they want to. I know what I went down there and did, I know how hard I worked."

The 29-year-old right-hander excelled as a setup man last season but struggled after inheriting the closer role in March from the injured Jason Motte. In 10 2/3 innings this season, Boggs tallied a 12.66 ERA on 17 hits and 12 walks.

"He knew what he was not doing and what we was capable of doing, and so it was just a matter of figuring out how to make it happen," manager Mike Matheny said. "We were watching him close. That was the game plan all along -- get him fixed and get him back here."

Matheny didn't offer much clarity to Boggs' role in the bullpen going forward, but it's likely that he sees time in low-pressure situations to prove himself.

"I think we've shown this team has all the ingredients it needs to be really special, and I just want to be one of those ingredients," Boggs said.